"Demo at San Antonio 2018 3" --- Sold

This is my third demo at San Antonio. It has many colors, feels like a festival. I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday season.

"Demo at San Antonio 2018 2" --- Sold

This is my second demo painting on my San Antonio workshop.

"Demo at San Antonio 2018 1" --- Sold

I was at San Antonio TX teaching at the Coppini Academy of Fine Arts. This was my first demo.

"Lake Travis - Demo in Austin 3"

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This is my 3rd demo on my Austin plein air painting workshop. We went Oasis (a wonderful restaurant by Lake Travis). I painted this one on the balcony facing the big lake. It was a very cold day. The wind was strong and raining too. We had to go inside to get warm and then come out painting, back and forth quite a few times. Oasis was very kind to us, and allow all of us painting inside the restaurant in the afternoon.

This painting is available at: https://www.dailypaintworks.com/fineart/qiang-huang/lake-travis-demo-in-austin-3/715789

Workshop reminder: Florence Texas, Feb 2019

Hello my friends, In February 22 - 24, I will teach a still life workshop in Florence Texas. If you are interested in my approaches to still life painting please check http://www.paintedviewsranch.com to get detailed information and sign up. See you at beautiful Texas hill country.

"Volente Beach" --- Sold

I did a plein air painting workshop in Austin before Thanksgiving. It was a cold day. Thank God it did rain that day. I want to thank Linda Carter for allowing us to use her property for the class. There was an old sailboat in the marina. It is kind of interesting.

"Demo at Wayne 3" --- Sold

The third demo at Wayne is flowers.

"Demo at Wayne 2" --- Sold

As usual, I demo on the second day of the workshop was metals.

"Demo at Wayne 1" --- Sold

I did a 3-day workshop at Wayne Art Center near Philadelphia. I want to thank Nancy Campbell and Kimberly Leone for organizing and all the artists for attending. This one was my first demo.

My 2019 calendar is ready for shipping

Happy Holidays my dear artist friends. I have made my 2019 painting calendar. To order one or a few, please visit my website then click "Store" tab, or just simply: http://www.qh-art.com/calendar-2019.html. Thank you so much for supporting my art.

"Red Door" --- Sold

This is the day we supposed to go to a ranch and painted there, but I left my canvas holder (it is part of my easel) at the framer's shop. After I got it, the major part of the morning has gone. Instead of driving to the ranch, I decided staying in town. In the alley, I saw the back side of "Deadhorse" bar has this vibrant red door. I set up my easel there.  It made my day.

Derek Penix 2019 Workshop

I am very excited to announce that Derek Penix will come to Austin again in April 2019 and teach a 4-day painting workshop. Derek is a true rising star artist. I know so many artists want to develop a loose and energetic painting style, but it is not easy. Derek really has the know-how. I just love his way of painting. If you are like me, and want paint loose, please check: http://www.qh-art.com/derek-penix-2019-workshop.html. Derek's workshop fills up fast. Please sign up as quick as you can.

"Old Time Entertainment" --- Sold

Continuing on my slow motion blog posting, this is my plein air of the old San Angelo Movie Cinema. It is no longer in use. I decided painted a monochromatic one. It gives a nostalgic feeling. I am very fortunate. This painting has been collected by San Angelo Fine Art Museum.

"Quiet Beauty" --- Sold

I did another water lily painting in San Angelo. You probably have realized that my painting posts have been way out of date. I was at San Angelo in latter part of October, now it has been already latter part of November. Since San Angelo, I have done two workshops but I have not posted any paintings there. I don't know why I am so busy all the time, but I am behind of so many things always. I used to like the rabbit in "Alice in Wonderland" anxious of being late. Now my mind likes the still water in this water lily pond. Everything seems have stopped. Time is an obsolete concept. You think I am enlightened? No, I am just simply being lazy.

"A Rainy Day in San Angelo" --- Sold

It was a cold day, rainy and windy. I was painting at the corner of Concho Ave and Oakes St. The scene was iconic for San Angelo. I like the old building of Miss Hattie's Restaurant and the sheep figure as well. A Dodge Ram was passing by. The scenery was so typically West Texas. I decided keep my color rustic. It was a long day and I suffered through, but it surely worth the effort.

"Water Lily Sweetness" --- Sold

San Angelo has an International Water Lily Garden. I have enjoyed so much painting there. I did two plein air painting there. This small 6"x8" is one of them.

"Antiques on ConChu" --- Sold

I went to San Angelo TX and participated the EPAT. This is my first plein air painting. I like the turquoise colors on this antique store.

"Afternoon at Seven Canyon"

Another plein air painting at Sedona.

"Jerom"

Jerom is small mining town not far from Sedona. Somehow this place reminds me Tuscany Italy. It was another raining day. I painted this one in the parking lot of Jerom Museum.

"Glow at 5:30 PM"

This is the Cathedral Rock in Sedona. You know I am more or less a "structure" painter. I like to paint buildings, still lives, portraits and figures. Painting natural scenes is unnatural to me. I need more thinking. I feel this kind of painting is about depicting textures. Mountains and trees are just different kind of textures. There are ways to do them. Many artists (or teachers) say that "you can paint anything, because they are just shapes, colors, and edges". Well I have to tell you, that is true only philosophically. If you know some "formula" (I know it is a dirty word). You will do much better and quicker. That is why Bob Ross and Thomas Kinkade were so successful.  If you want to painting natural scenes as fine art. You must be an illustrator first.

This painting is available. Contact me if you are interested.

"Morning at Oak Creek"

Finally we got some sunshine in Sedona. I did this plein air painting by the beautiful Oak Creek. I was very fortunate. This painting has won me an award. This painting is available. If you are interested to collect it. please let me know.

"Sun Set at Sedona"

When I was painting is one, the rain was on and off. I had to put away my easel back to my car when rain came and re-set it up when the rain stopped. I had been in and out 5 times. It is really test how fast I can put away and pull it out. I could manage to do this in a few minutes.

"Chapel in Tlaquepaque" --- Sold

I am in Sedona AZ now attending 2018 SPAF. The weather was not cooperating for a few days. This plein air painting was done at Tlaquepaque in downtown Sedona. It was raining and cold. Fortunately I found a cover.

"Earl Grey Tea" --- Sold

In New Orleans, "Oil" is pronounced as "Earl". So I put this lovely "earl" can into my second demo on the workshop, and called this painting "Earl Grey Tea".

Demo in New Orleans 2018 1 --- Sold

A few days after I came back from China, I did a workshop at New Orleans. This is my first day demonstration.

Hsin-Yao Tseng Portrait Painting workshop reminder

I want to send a reminder to all of you for this exceptional workshop from this exceptional artist. If you are not familiar with Hsin-Yao's art, I highly recommend you check his work online. Hsin-Yao is one of few I consider a genius. He has reached his success in the art world at very young age. Look at this extraordinarily beautiful portrait he did. I have been inspired, and learned a lot from him when I was studying at Art Academy of Art University in San Francisco. It has been a rare opportunity I invited Hsin-Yao come to Austin to teach. I hope you all also can take advantage of this special learning opportunity to bring your portrait work to the Master level. Please check Hsin-Yao Tseng workshop and sign up soon.

“Plein Air at Norbulingka" --- Sold

This is only plein air painting I did in Lhasa, Tibet. We were at Norbulingka, Dalai Lama's former summer Palace. It was a beautiful place, rather quiet. After we set up our easels and ready to work. A police woman asked me about our activity. After I explained that we were a group of international artists coming to Lhasa and paint. She was very happy about what we were doing, and watched we work with strong interest.

"Shanli Bridge" --- Sold

I did this painting when I was in China. It feels my China trip has been a long long time ago, but in reality I came back only 10 days. It is so odd.

“Plein Air at Shangli 02"

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This plein air painting was interrupted a few times by the rain. I don't know if it is considered finished or not, but I was really in a rush using the time when the rain was subsided into a drizzle. The scene was a complicated structure, but I was under the pressure, and it is impossible to take care of all the issues I consider necessary to be a painting I like. reality is reality.

I feel the process of this painting just like my life. We have to compromise to all the issues we wish we can take care of, but life is telling us that is the best we can have. Struggling in life is not always a bad thing. Just like this painting, I kind of like it.

"Plein Air at Shangli 01" --- Sold

I was completely disappeared from the cyber world for a month. I just came back from China last night. Our painting trip there was very exciting. 13 of us traveled and created art together. We have many stories to tell, and many photos to share. Unfortunately, I was not able to access to my social media during the time I was there. I was happy being there in China, and I am happy coming back as well, because I can show you images.

Shangli is a old small town in Sichuan Province. There are many remarkable old structures. The weather was 100% raining when we were there. I painted two paintings there, all in the rain.

"Docking Peacefully" --- Sold

This painting was done at Oxford MD during the Plein Air Easton Festival. I felt very peaceful when I painted them. Nowadays, the world is getting more and more chaotic. We really have no peace of mind when we are bombarded with the information of what are happening. Art is my sanctuary, where I can forget the reality temporarily.  Just like those boats, I want to dock peacefully.

Mathematics in Art

Do artists need math? Generally speaking, I don't know. However to myself, the answer is: Absolutely. Mathematics is a powerful tool when I run into ambiguous issues during painting practice. I'd like to run a few analysis mathematically. For instance, I try to investigate the color temperature relationship between light and shadow. I use image processing software (Photoshop) to sample out the colors in light and shadow area. I get their color coordinates so I can compare, and then plot the sampled colors on the color wheel. The result can be shown clearly. I document the analysis result in my note book for future references. My today's post is one of my color analysis. I consider I may teach some useful math to you in my future workshops.

"Time Impression"

I spent two morning hours painting this old barn at Easton. I love to paint old stuff. This barn I painted last year. I saw it gets run down even more this year. Things fall apart. That is a very profound truth. On one hand we try to improve, wish we get better and better. On the other hand, we fall apart. The world is balanced in a weird way.

"Time to Say Goodbye"

Got on "Youtube", I searched "Time to Say Goodbye". When the beautiful voices of Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli permeated my studio, I felt tears in my eyes. This month of August is still young, but I have been shocked twice by the sad news that friends pretty close to me passing. Capt. John Atoms, (who was in Richard Schmid's dvd "The Captain's Portrait"), had stroke in July and passed away on August 3. I love him dearly. Another friend Patrick Hugg went to China with me last year and we met again in my Raleigh workshop last month, but he was gone on August 4. Patrick was only 52. The God of Death is so close to us. We all know we can not live indefinitely, but very few accept this truth. I did this small house painting several times. One of them was collected by Capt. John, and this very one was painted in front of Patrick. Farewell, my dear friends.

"A hot day on the Strand" --- Sold

This is another plein air painting on PAE. It was at Oxford MD. I realized during painting this one that I really do not have enough know-how knowledge about landscape painting. I don't know how to paint trees, I don't know how to paint rocks, I don't know how to paint water, and I don't know how to paint small figures in the scene...  I was wondering why I was there for. When I was trying to put the blue umbrella on the painting panel, a gust of wind came suddenly, and my painting umbrella flue off to the lake, it was dancing and spinning, made a spectacular show, before sunk into the bottom of the water. I was in awe of such beautiful performance, regret I wasn't  quick enough to snap a video clip with my phone. That was a True Art.

"Country Tranquility" --- Sold

This is 2nd plein air painting at Easton. It is a relatively large painting (12" x 24"). I have used a 3" wide brush for the background. It was so much fun.

"Red Roof" --- Sold

This is my first painting on the Plein Air Easton Festival. This was done at Tilghman Island MD.

Thanks to all the friends providing suggestions and share ideas after my previous post. I know I am in a slump right now. It is rather difficult to relax and rest.  I meditated quite often recently, and realized how badly I am attached to this world. I am learning in baby steps, both artistically and spiritually.

"Demo at Landgrove 2018 3"

Nowadays, I feel I am slowing down significantly. This painting was done more than a month ago in Vermont, but I have not posted it in a timely manner. Am I overly too busy? Maybe true, but I feel mainly is my psyche is out of whack again. My mind is keeping on shutting down and refuses to take any information from outside. My brain likes a over mixed color palette. It is full of mud. At this moment, I am in my camp trailer, off the grid, and alone. I hope my chattering mind can get quiet down a little bit. Although I myself may go crazy, This painting looks still OK. I am keeping on push my art forward, even I feel exhausted.

"Jove Wang's 10-day Big Painting Workshop"

I want to use this opportunity to introduce a very special workshop I will provide in 2019. Master artist Jove Wang will come to Austin again next year and teach a 10-day Big Painting workshop. This workshop is designed for advanced artists who want seriously to bring their art to higher level by creating large scale oil paintings.  During the 10-day workshop period, students will learn how to develop large format art from multiple reference photographs and preliminary drawings and color sketches. In order to bring the utmost benefit to students, Jove Wang needs to evaluate the skill level of all applicants and provide appropriate recommendations. Please visit Jove Wang 10-day workshop webpage to get more detailed information. Jove and I are looking forward to working with you and helping you to develop your art to a higher level.

"Easton Rain" --- Sold

It was an honor to participate the Plein Air Easton competition the 2nd time. This is a painting I did in the rain in down town Easton. I am very happy that this painting has won the 1st place of Quick Draw. I want to thank Plein Air Easton and the Judge Jill Carver for this honor.

"Demo at Landgrove VT 2018 2" --- Sold

I have spent longer time on this demo painting, so I get additional details on the metal pot. I really like the texture.

"Demo at Landgrove 2018 1"

Texas has been getting too hot. So I went Vermont. This is 1st demo at Landgrove, VT.

New workshop Announcement: Plein Air in Ausitn

Yes, that red rock is in Sedona AZ, but I like to use it to announce my plein air painting workshop in Austin this fall. Texas summer is brutal. However, November is a good time to go outdoors. I am going to paint the beautiful Texas hill country. I hope you can join me and I will share all I know about plein air landscape painting in this 3-day workshop. Please check: http://www.qh-art.com/qiang-huang-plein-air-workshop-2018.html for detailed info and sign up. Thank you.

"Demo in Austin 2018 4" --- Sold

Nowadays, there are too much going on. We are information overloaded. We are over too busy. I felt I am a machine. Doing one thing after another. I can only react mechanically. In this rat race kind of life, can we still generate good art? I doubt it. I am mindful about it. I know my demos are pretty much the same. It serves its purpose in workshops. My art is still going. I have hope.

"Demo in Austin 2018 3" --- Sold

When I post my painting, I write spontaneously what is in my mind. However recently my mind is blank. I feel I start to have Alzheimer's. So we just let the painting talk visually. This is the third demo I did on my Austin workshop.

"Demo in Austin 2018 2" --- Sold

Life keeps  on going. I still have paintings to post. This is my second demo in Austin.

"Demo in Austin 2018 1"

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Back to my usual mode of teaching. This is my first demonstration on my Austin workshop. Low key, and bright center of focus. You have seen too many of my demos like this. Please be patient with me. Life is keep on going.

"Copper Kettle and Green Apple"

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I am happy to see my color scheme change in paintings. I use to use value dominantly to create the drama for my art. Now I tend to establish dominant color tones for my paintings. I get more chances using higher chroma colors in large areas. I am in the transition from a tonalist to a colorist. Can you believe I did not use ultramarine blue in this painting?

"Tuscany in yellow"

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This one is harmonized to yellow.

"Tuscany in Blue"

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This one I harmonize the color to blue.